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Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. While it focuses on Christian teaching, I hope persons of varied faiths will find inspiration here. Indeed, "God" can be whatever image helps us trust in the Sacred, by whatever means Grace touches us each. Please share this ministry with others, and please return soon. There is a new offering daily. And to be placed on the daily OneLife email list, to request notifications of new writings or submit prayer requests, write to briankwilcox@yahoo.com .
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Pastor-Teacher, Author, Workshop Leader, Spiritual Counselor, and Chaplain.
You are invited to join Brian at his fellowship group on Facebook. The group is called OneLife Ministries – An Interspiritual Contemplative Fellowship. Hope to see you there. Blessings.
MY Confession of Faith
A LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS
and through JESUS
for ALL.
SPIRITUAL TEACHING
A Christian scholar who held the Bible
to be literally true
was once accosted by a scientist who
said, “According to the Bible the
earth was created some five thousand
years ago. But we have discovered bones
that point to life on earth
a million years ago.”
Pat came the answer: “When
God created earth five thousand
years ago, he deliberately put those
bones in to test our faith and see
if we would believe his Word
rather than scientific evidence.”
*Anthony de Mello. Song of the Bird. “Bones to Test our Faith.”
* * *
A remarkable Christian scholar once commented, in a book I read on the Bible - essentially, “If a person can read the Bible, and not have serious problems with some things it claims, he must be brain dead.” Well, many persons read the Bible as though they are brain dead, having been taught claims about the Bible that the Bible does not claim for itself. But they fear raising the questions and honoring the doubts, for they have been trained not to do so.
Faith embraces the translogical, but has nothing to do with affirming the simply symbolical as historically fact. For example, to affirm that a man named Jonah lived in a fish and had a prayer meeting in the stomach juices is historical, well, such is not logical or essential to faith, nor is the claims of creationism and rejection of evolution having anything essential to do with being a true, spiritual Christian.
* * *
Is biblical literalism a threat to social harmony and goodwill? Well, yes and no. In itself biblical literalism is nothing more than a tendency to read the metaphorical as actual, the symbolic as historical. This, basically, is a linguistic error, not a moral issue.
However, the threat of biblical literalism is at least two-fold. First, reading some matters in Scripture as literal can easily lead to justifying religious practices or social ones that are not fitting. For example, the Yahweh of the Old Testament tells the Israelites to commit genocide against an entire population. Many Christians actually believe this horrible matter. They never seem to pose the query, “How could a God who loves everyone equally, actually give His people a land by the people slaughtering all men, women, children, and infants?" Then, ironically, these same persons oppose abortion – but, oddly, and in contradiction, religious genocide kills many unborn children. The explanation in Scripture for this genocide is the evil of the “Canannite.” Still, is not genocide an evil way to address the different religious and social ways of another people; is not such a way of demonizing the other? See, this does not make sense. Biblical literalism eventually falters under its own nonsense, its own inner contradiction: this is called in philosophy a performative error.
A second threat of biblical literalism is its consistent association with what sociologist call totalism. Totalism is the practice, either socially or religiously, of rejecting all competing belief systems. This is always a mark of social and religious extremism. And biblical literalism, as literalism in other faiths, also, such as Islam, is linked with totalism.
Therefore, a logical conclusion arises. Literalism is a linguistic matter, but more so a matter of the heart-mind. Literalism both is a reflection of the mentality of literalism, with its totalism, and shapes and confirms that literalistic mentality. Literalists see the world in a way non-literalists do not. Literalism tends toward exclusion, bigotry, prejudice of unlike persons and groups, and a whole belief system that creates a tribal god of that group.
* * *
Then, do we throw out Scriptures? No, almost all faith groups have a Scripture. Either this is one, like the Holy Bible in Christianity, or a collection, as in Buddhism and Hinduism. Yet, we need to understand two important facts about Scripture.
First, Scripture is a meeting place of those in a faith group. A common text provides a sense of identity and wisdom guidance on important religious and social matters. To me, the Holy Bible is only one among many ways the Divine speaks. Yet, this does not mean I take the Bible lightly. Indeed, I cherish it, and meditate on it daily. This is another case of a person showing one does not have to be a literalist or a conservative, and certainly not a totalist, to cherish the inspirational value of Scripture. To equate literalism and conservatism with faithful to the faith is simply another prejudice.
Second, in a sense, real sense, all Scripture is metaphorical, is poetic. A metaphor indicates how two things are similar. If I say, “God is my rock,” of course, God is not a rock. All Scripture is metaphorical because humans used human language to speak of beyond-human realities. God did not write the Bible, and any theory of inspiration that does not take into account the errancy of humans writing scriptures need not be seen as truth. There is not one shred of evidence to support the dogma that all the Christian Bible was communicated to humans perfectly and without being as much human as divine, often more so human.
* * *
Some religious traditions, and the Christian mystics, also, encourage transcendence of written forms. A famous Zen Buddhist tale shares of an aging Master reverently passing on the book of the teachings of their school, and to the younger man who was to suceed the Master. The younger man immediately threw away the texts into a fire. In the school he was to continue, this was in line with the spirit of their heritage.
* * *
Recently, I met and provided spiritual counseling with a man who had given up his Christian faith. He could no longer take literally many things in the Bible. He had found much comfort in the Tao Te Ching. I, too, have relished that classic. He was so pleased to find out that I, a Christian clergyperson, was open both to the rich teachings of other faiths and Scriptures, and that I encouraged him to be open to return to the Bible and read it as he does the Tao Te Ching. Read it, I informed him, without the veil of all the theology and dogma. Listen to it, as a simple, direct, and wise message from Jesus, with universal truths for all persons, those of Christian lineage, and other persons, as well. Then, this may be a door for him to reengage his native faith.
* * *
The essence of Christianity is a relationship with the Person, life, and principles of Jesus. Scripture itself is one means, among others, of enriching that relationship. A metaphorical approach to Scripture offers opportunities for a growing, lively concourse with the Bible. A person should not feel wrong about having serious doubts about some of the scriptures in Scripture, and should feel free not to be a literalist. That is to say, one can take Scripture seriously, without taking it literally, as a literalist. Indeed, in contrast, I have known many biblical literalists that did not demonstrate in any way that they took it seriously.
* * *
Truly, it is almost 2010. Is it not time for religions to grow up out of the childhood of literalism and mythic-tribal thinking and see the truths of science and faith as one, and wed this, too, with an understanding that the Divine speaks in many ways and no one faith has the marketplace of the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
* * *
Last, biblical literalism is counter the centrifugal energy-attraction that draws persons together. Literalism repels that which does not fit its tight, neat system. There are major similarities between Osama bin Laden and the fundamentalist-literalist preaching from a Christian pulpit on Sunday morning. The mentality is much the same, and many conservative Christian persons are unable to see how alike are the varied expressions of ultra-conservatism, be it Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or otherwise.
St. Paul was very concerned that the Christian community remain in unity. He knew a lack of unity, even amidst differences, would greatly cripple the Christian witness. Note his beautiful statement on unity:
1 Is there any encouragement in Christ? Any comfort from love? Any fellowship in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly joyful by being of one mind, loving one another with the same love, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as more significant than yourselves.
*Philippians 3.1-3, NLT
Jesus, in a similar spirit, speaks of the need to remain in His love, in spiritual community of his followers, knowing the differences that can easily rupture the communion of brotherhood and sisterhood: As the Father has loved me, I have loved you; abide in my love (John 15.9).
For the witness of the Christian path, we must shift to the energies that can unify us, and make our faith more attractive to persons. Biblical literalism is not the answer to that need. Yet, an openness to our groundedness in the Spirit, and the beauties and potential enrichment of living together in a loving, compassionate, and spiritually-focused communion can open to a unity that we are not enjoying in Grace. Yet, now, this inclusion must be more than the tribal church; unity must include other faiths and movements. This inclusion is, also, a respect for the Scriptures of these faiths, and for the truths in them – as one with all Truth. Truth being in one Scripture does not make it more or less true, and this pertains to truths of equal value in diverse spiritual paths.
* * *
*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis. While within the Christian path, he is an ecumenical-interspiritual teacher, author, and chaplain. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Jail, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
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